Facing The Music
by Fearless.Love.Life
Summary: Joe has a bad case of laryngitis, so he's not able to go on tour with his brothers. So when he arrives at his aunt's house, he hears someone singing at music camp, and can't get the voice out of his head. Will he ever be reunited with the mystery singer?
1. Chapter 1

'So let me get this straight

**Okay, so I had this idea for a story while I was at my cottage. Here's the first chapter; tell me what you think!**

**I don't own anything!**

'So let me get this straight.' Joe Jonas croaked into the phone, 'Since I have something wrong with my throat, I might never be able to sing again?'

'I'm sorry, Joseph. But if you continue to sing, your throat will just get worse. You might not even be able to speak again.' The doctor said, feeling bad for the young teenager, whose dreams were in the midst of being shattered.

'Perfect.' He said, sarcastically, 'But why couldn't any of the other doctors figure out what I had?'

'Joseph, I'm not entirely sure. But they all thought you had Strep throat. But unfortunately, we didn't catch it early enough, so it will take a lot longer for you to heal than it would have.'

Joe had a realization, his heart sinking. 'So I can't go on tour?'

'To get completely better, you should stay at home. Do you have any relatives that you can stay with?'

'I-I don't know. You can talk to my parents, I guess. They'd probably know.'

'Thanks, Joe. You take care, now.' The doctor said.

'See ya, Doc.' Joe said, handing the phone to his mother, who would hopefully convince the doctor that he should be able to go on tour.

A few weeks ago, while they were on their last tour, Joe had been singing, when his voice gave out. His throat had been tingling painfully for a few days before that, but he had thought that it was just from stress. They had gone to many doctors, in different cities on the tour, but none of them had been able to diagnose him with anything. And while he continued singing, it just got worse. He couldn't speak without his voice being raspy, and singing was out of the question. Finally, they had gone to the family doctor, who had known right away that it was laryngitis.

Once he was off the phone, he walked over to Nick's room, where both Nick and Kevin were in, packing clothes for the upcoming weeks on the road, traveling from city to city. 'You heard the news?' He asked hopefully, for sympathy from his brothers.

'Yeah, man,' Nick said, barely looking at his older brother, 'that's too bad. But maybe you can still come with us.'

'Maybe.' Joe sighed, walking over to the middle of the messy room, 'But I think Mom is trying to find someone I can stay with, while you guys are gone.'

Nick and Kevin continued folding clothes, and putting them into their suitcases. There was the impression that a tornado had hit, in the form of shirts, jeans and shoes.

'We can convince them to let you come for the shows around here.' Kevin suggested, looking up from his blue-and-black plaid traveling bag.

'Maybe. But I can't sing; I can barely talk as it is.' Joe wheezed sadly. 'The doctor said that I might not be able to sing for ever.'

Right then, their youngest brother, Frankie walked into the room, and gave his brother a big hug, saying, 'I'm going to miss you.'

'Me too, Buddy. But we'll talk, right?' Joe said, returning the embrace. He'd really miss his youngest brother, who enjoyed accompanying the brothers while they were on tour.

Frankie looked up into his brother's eyes, 'Yup. Everyday. But Mom wants to talk to you, that's why she sent me up here.'

Joe let go of his brother and started to walk towards the door, giving him a look. He walked down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where both his parents had been before.

'Joseph, I just got off the phone with your Aunt Linda in Seattle, and you're going to stay with her for the tour.' His mother said, setting down the phone onto the cradle and looking at her sick son.

He coughed, wincing at the pain, 'But I don't want to go Seattle. Aunt Linda hates me.'

'She doesn't hate you.' His mother tried to convince him; 'she just doesn't trust you, after what you and Kevin did to her pool.'

Joe smirked at the memory. Him and his older brother had wanted to dye their aunt's dog blue, and they had thought that the best way to do so was to put a whole bottle of blue food colouring in the swimming pool, and throwing the dog in to swim. When their aunt had found out, they had been in deep trouble, and had been grounded for weeks. Their parents had found the whole situation humorous, but Aunt Linda still gave the brothers dirty looks every time they got together for Christmas dinner, although she had no problem with giving Nick or Frankie a pat on the back, or ruffling their hair.

'And you'll go there on Wednesday, by bus, and she'll pick you up when you get there.' She said, breaking his train of thought.

'But you guys leave tomorrow. What will I do until Wednesday?' Joe asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Him and his brothers were still used to being busy for days, with concerts and appearances, so the concept of him having some free time made him wonder up the possibilities.

'We'll have someone pick you up on Wednesday to go to the station, alright?' his mom answered, picking up the phone book and leafing through it.

'Don't bother. I can get to the bus station on my own.' He said, almost bitterly. If he was going to be left alone, he might as well try to prove that he could do it right.

'If you want. But I'll leave some numbers for you, okay?' she said, getting out a sheet of paper from a notebook that was lying on the counter, and started copying down numbers for Joe to call, if he decided he needed a ride to the bus station.

Joe walked back to his room, and looked around. Like his brother's rooms, there were clothes everywhere, but for different reasons. Kevin and Nick were normally relatively neat, whereas Joe was just naturally messy. There was a laundry hamper in the nearby corner of the room, so Joe started stuffing random articles of clothing in, so that he could determine what needed washing for his trip. He didn't really want to go to Seattle, but he didn't have much of a choice. Unless his throat magically healed, there was no way that he could ever sing for anyone, since the laryngitis was at such an advanced stage. If any of the other doctors had given him the right diagnosis, maybe he would be able to sing eventually, even if it was as backup for his brothers. But none of the doctors did. They all had to think it was Strep throat.

He had two days to pack. Two days to miraculously heal. Two days to think of an escape route from his aunt's house. His head ached, and his throat throbbed from all of his recent problems, so he lied down on his still-messy bed, closed his eyes, and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Unfortunately.**

**Okay, I was writing out the outlines for the chapters, and I realized that this sounded a bit like 'Camp Rock.' I didn't mean for that to happen at all.**

**Enjoy!**

'Last stop, Clearwater Springs Central Bus Station' the bus driver announced over a loudspeaker.

Joe awoke with a start; he had been dozing for most of the three-hour bus ride. He had been sitting in the second-last row of the bus, and no one was behind him, so he was able to lean his chair back, and try to relax, with his iPod blasting music in his ears. There weren't many people on the bus, except a few businessmen with laptops, a woman with a screaming baby, and an unshaven man drinking from a vodka bottle in a paper bag, who was quietly singing to himself.

The rest of the Jonas family had left on the tour bus the day before, for their North American tour. Joe had been sad to say goodbye, and not at all excited to go to Seattle with Aunt Linda, but knew that he didn't have much of a choice. His last full day in his own home had been spent sulking; so all his packing had been done that morning, while he had been watching a rerun from yesterday of Access Hollywood.

He looked out the window, and saw a small crowd of people standing outside to pick people up, where the bus would stop. He looked around for his Aunt Linda, but he couldn't see her among the group of people. He gathered up his carry-on bag, and stood up. He walked down the narrow walkway, and down the steps. He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. 4:43 PM. She was supposed to be here at 4:30 to meet him. It had all been arranged just two days prior.

Sighing, Joe made his way over to the side of the bus, where he was supposed to get his belongings. Weaving through the other passengers from the bus, he peered into the compartment. He spotted his two bags and his guitar case. Pulling them out, he heard a loud noise.

'Finally.' He said, to himself. Aunt Linda had arrived. In her ancient car, you could hear the engine from three blocks away. He watched as she pulled into the parking lot across the street.

'Joseph!' she cried, getting out of the car and flailing her arms, 'Over here!'

Joe rolled his eyes, picked up his bags, and headed over to his aunt's car.

'Hello, Joseph.' His aunt said coolly. She reached inside her car and pressed a button, which opened the trunk. She gestured for him to put in his bags. He did as he was instructed, and got into the back seat.

The car was probably older than he was, Joe had estimated, years before. It was an off-white colour, which looked like it could use a good cleaning. The interior was grey and faded, and he could feel the springs from the bottom of the seats. The radio looked ancient, and it didn't even have a CD player, just a tape player. He was suddenly glad that he had brought his iBook, so he could play his music without being hassled by ancient technology.

'Was your ride okay?' Aunt Linda asked, after five minutes of silence.

'It was okay, I guess.' Joe said, 'there was a screaming kid, but I had my iPod, so I was able to sleep.'

'What's an iPod?' she asked, to Joe's surprise. Even though Aunt Linda wasn't exactly in the right generation to use an iPod, he thought that she would have at least seen a commercial.

'It's a portable music player. It plays MP3s.' he tried to explain. 'Do you know what _those_ are?'

'Yes, Joseph. I'm not _that_ old.' She said, with exasperation.

There was a pregnant pause in the conversation, so Joe looked out the window. There was a strip mall, and a swimming pool. He saw some teenagers, who seemed to be his age.

After what seemed like forever, they pulled up into an old looking house. It had a Victorian style to it, but the light blue paint was peeling, and the shutters looked like they were about to fall off. There was a wrap-around porch, and a balcony on the second floor.

_It could be nice_, Joe thought to himself, as he was unloading his belongings from his aunt's ancient car.

Once they were inside, Aunt Linda closed the door, and turned to face her nephew with a wry smile, 'There are rules. No running, no screaming, no breaking things, and no food colouring.'

'Aunt Linda? I can't run; I'm sick. Same goes for the screaming. I only break my own things, and I'm over the colour blue.' Joe shot back, smirking.

'Whatever, Joe.' She said, hanging up her coat and putting away her bag in the closet, 'you can go and unpack. Second door to your left.'

Joe walked upstairs clumsily, bags in hand, to the spare bedroom. Opening it, he looked inside. The walls were painted a light shade of green, and the bed was in the middle of the room, with a yellow comforter, with green and dark yellow flowers. A desk was by the large bay window, and a night table was next to the bed, with a lamp.

Closing the door behind him, he set his bags on the bed, and turned around. There was a large mirror on the back of the door, and when he looked into his reflection, he noticed that he looked tired.

Since he had been diagnosed with laryngitis, he had felt more and more tired. He hadn't had the energy to go for his daily morning runs, and didn't have much of an appetite. His cheeks looked slightly hollow, and there were bags under his eyes.

Looking around, he located the closet, where he began unpacking his clothes. Two of his three bags contained his clothing. The other one, which he had used as a carry-on, was filled with his laptop, his iPod, various cords, his guitar tuner, and his music sheets. Also on his bed was his prized possession; an acoustic guitar, in a case, covered in various stickers, from each location of their last tour.

After unpacking, Joe started feeling restless, so he decided to go for a walk. He left a note for his aunt, and set off, iPod in hand. He wanted to explore the neighbourhood, so he turned the first corner, and looked around. All of the houses looked similar; red-brown stucco, black roofs, perfectly groomed lawns, and no kids in sight. The street was completely silent; he was beginning to wonder if anyone lived there at all.

Suddenly, he heard a noise. He turned his iPod off, and walked towards the noise. It was coming from the last house on the street. He hadn't noticed this house before; it was made of red brick, and had a white roof. It looked a bit more run-down than the other houses, but it looked like it had life. Walking closer, he could hear that there was someone singing, accompanying the music, which sounded like a piano. He looked through the window, but all he could see was the back of a girl's head.

What caught his eye was a thin, sparkly headband that was in the girl's thick, dirty blond hair.

As quickly as the music had started, it stopped. The girl at the piano got up and walked away, leaving the neighbourhood once again silent.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's Chapter 3. Sorry for not updating recently, but school started … two months ago, and it's really time-consuming. So read and review!**

**Btw, I don't own Joe Jonas, unfortunately. I also don't own iPods or . But I do own Aunt Linda, Jared, and to the extent of my knowledge, I own The Waffle Palace. **

'Man, it's great here.' Nick said, over the phone.

'How great for you.' Joe replied, frowning, closing the door to his bedroom. He had been at his aunt's house for over a week, now, and things weren't looking good. He still couldn't say a full sentence without his voice becoming raspy, and every time he turned on the television, that was conveniently located in his bedroom, all he could see were videos of his brothers, having the time of their life, all over the world. Right now, Joe calculated that it would be three in the afternoon in Germany, where the rest of the Jonas family was. He hadn't talked with anyone in over four days, so he had decided to call the two other Jonas brothers, to see how the tour was going.

'You should see the pool in the hotel. The water slide is massive!' Kevin added, oblivious to his brother's pain.

'And the girls are amazing.' Nick said, which made Joe smile. The last time they were on tour, they had made a chart rating which city had the best looking girls, judging on hair, eyes, and their smiles. The European city girls were generally the winners.

Joe sighed. He hadn't realized how much he had missed touring with his family until right then.

'So how's Aunt Linda's house?' Kevin asked, breaking through Joe's thoughts.

'Absolutely amazing. We're making cookies, and going to movies everyday, and having so much fun!' Joe said, rolling his eyes. 'What do you think?'

'So what have you been doing, then?' Nick said, smirking. He always had enjoyed the extra attention from his aunt.

'Nothing. Except for watching hours of TV at a time. And all I can manage to watch lovely music videos of you guys, which is not as fun as it might seem.' Joe said, clearing his throat.

'Hey, man. How are you feeling?' Nick said, ignoring his brother's last comment.

'Fine, I guess. I'm almost done my medicine, but I still can't talk properly. It doesn't help that you abandoned me' Joe said, sprawling out on his unmade bed. His clothes had made their way from his closet to his floor, and lay there, lifeless. His room hadn't seen daylight in three days, and there was an accumulating layer of dust on his desk and night table.

'Dude, we didn't abandon you; your throat abandoned us.' Kevin said, trying to cheer his younger brother up.

Joe gave a small smile, and sighed. 'I should go. You probably have some CD signing to go to or something.'

'Actually, yeah, we do. But we'll call you later, okay?' Nick said feeling slightly embarrassed at his brother's accurate guess.

'Sure. Have fun. Don't break the fan's hearts, eh?' Joe said, smirking slightly. On the last tour, there had been a scene with a fan, who had been convince that her and Nick were meant to be together. He signed her poster, and posed for a picture, but when he had to go back on the tour bus, she had started crying, and told him that they were broken up. Once everyone was in the bus, the brothers had nearly died laughing, and they had never heard from that girl again.

'Will do, big brother. See ya.' Nick said grimacing, as he hung up his phone.

Joe said goodbye to his older brother, and put in a quick hello to his parents, before he hung up himself.

He got up from his bed and started pacing his room. He needed to go somewhere, and he knew just the place.

After scribbling down an elaborate note to Aunt Linda, saying, 'Going Out, Be back soon,' he escaped the house, and turned the corner. He walked down the same street as he had yesterday, hoping to hear the music. When he reached the red brick house, he stopped and looked in. The grand piano remained silent. Joe shrugged, slightly disappointed. He turned on his iPod, and continued on his way to his paradise.

On route, he saw a group of kids that seemed to be around his age. They stared at him as he walked by, and Joe got the impression that something was strange. He glanced down at his outfit. He was wearing black skinny jeans, and a turquoise windbreaker over a plain white V-neck t-shirt. Over in the small group, they were wearing what seemed to be straight off a J. Crew catalogue; smart looking sports jackets, preppy polo shirts, and penny loafers.

He raised his hand in acknowledgement, only to receive blank stares from the guys, and looks of disgust from the girls.

_Great, _Joe thought to himself,_ one week here and people already think I'm weird. _Before, when he went to school, people thought that it was weird to want to be different than everyone else. In the neighbourhood that the Jonas family lived in, everyone was taught to try to fit in, and be the same as the other kids. Neither Joe nor his brothers had liked this rule, and thrived on being different.

When he reached his destination, he heaved a sigh of relief. There, standing right in front of him, stood a large, neon sign, saying, 'Waffle Palace!' The building was painted a bright shade of yellow, and there were paintings of waffles on the side. Stepping inside, Joe saw the all-too familiar jukebox, where him and his brothers had spent hours picking out music. There were bright tables, no two the same colour. Fire truck Red, Cotton Candy Pink, Lily Pad Green. The waitresses wore bright pink uniforms, with their names stitched on the breast pocket, with baby blue roller skates on their feet.

While Joe was still marveling at the old restaurant, an older waitress walked over to him and said, 'Table for one?'

Joe nodded, and followed the woman over to a table by the window. He could see the group of teenagers, still lingering outside the restaurant.

'So I'm Cheyenne, and I'll be your waitress for today.' A voice pulled Joe out of his thoughts, and he looked up. There was a young, blond waitress staring down at him. He hadn't realized that the older waitress, who had ushered him to his seat, had left.

'H-Hi.' Joe stuttered, staring down at his menu, trying to decide what to order. 'I'll have the banana pancakes, and a side order or sausages, please.'

Cheyenne smiled as she wrote down his order and took his menu. 'It'll be here soon.'

As soon as she had skated away, Joe heard the tinkling noise of the bell, announcing the arrival of a new group of customers. He turned around, only to see the group that had blatantly ignored him, only twenty minutes ago. Turning back around, he could hear them giggling and talking, seemingly oblivious to him.

'Hey.' A voice startled him, and he turned back around to see one of the boys looking down at him, staring. He had shaggy, blond hair, and bright green eyes.

'Hi?' Joe replied, not really sure of what to make of the situation.

'Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. This is just a really small town, and new people don't really come around too often. We just thought you were making fun of us.' The boy said, holding out his hand, 'I'm Jared, by the way.'

'Joe.' He said, taking the outstretched hand and shaking it. 'I wasn't making fun of you at all; completely the opposite, actually.'

'Well, it's nice to meet you.' Jared said. He looked down at the booth that Joe was sitting at. 'Do you mind?'

'No, not at all.' Joe said, slightly surprised, but gestured at the table nonetheless.

Jared sat down, and looked around the restaurant. 'Have you been here before?'

'Actually, I have.' Joe said, looking at the jukebox. 'My brothers and I used to come here whenever we visited, which wasn't actually that often, but it was kind of like a tradition.'

'Who do you visit here?'

'My Aunt Linda. Do you know her?' Joe asked, figuring that Jared would have some knowledge about his aunt, considering how small this town was.

'Linda? As in Linda Jonas? Are you kidding, she's a legend here!' Jared said, looking slightly surprised.

'A legend?' Joe exclaimed, surprised, 'How?'

'So every year, we have a music festival, and except for last year, Linda was the karaoke champion for thirteen years in a row. But no one knows why she stopped. We were all hoping that she would go again this year, but I don't think she's going to.' Jared said, helping himself to a piece of fruit from the plate that had just arrived for Joe.

Joe frowned. Over the last year, the Jonas Brothers had become more and more popular. Maybe that was why she had stopped. _Stop thinking that way, Joe. She wouldn't have stopped because of you. _He thought to himself.

'Maybe I can talk to her.' Joe said, pouring syrup over his pancakes.

'That would be great, man.' Jared said, nodding.

Over the next hour, they talked about things: school, friends, and music. Jared seemed surprised when Joe had told him that he was a musician.

'Yeah, man. I play with my brothers. The Jonas Brothers? Ever heard of them?' Joe asked.

'You're from the Jonas Brothers?' Jared asked, his mouth opened in shock. 'My sister practically wants to marry you!'

Joe smiled. He had received letters from different fans, giving him various different marriage proposals, and in concerts, there were many brightly coloured posters saying, 'I'm From Australia! We'd Be The Perfect Pair, Mate!' and 'I'm Burning Up for You Joe!' He'd always thought that it was kind of strange that perfect strangers would want to marry them, but he was still flattered. 'Marry me, huh?'

Jared rolled his eyes, 'I've heard every song you guys have sung, been forced to watch your movie, and the walls of her room are covered with your pictures. It would be a dream come true for her to even meet you.'

'Well, I think I'm kind of done with the whole singing career.' Joe admitted, sighing.

'Why?' Jared asked, genuinely perplexed.

'I have laryngitis. The doctor says that it will be a miracle if I can sing again. And my brothers are already on tour without me.' He said, looking down at his plate.

'That's too bad, man. But you know what would be good?'

'What?'

'There's this music camp that starts next week, that's held at the church. I know you can't sing and all, but you might be able to help people get ready for the festival.' Jared proposed, looking excited.

'Help people? Like who?' Joe asked, looking around. Jared turned around, only to find out that his friends seemed to have left the restaurant a while ago, but neither boys had noticed.

Jared shrugged, turning back around. 'I don't know. Different people. You can tell them if their song choice is good, or whether they should play an instrument or not. That kind of thing.'

Joe weighed the pros and cons. If he went, he'd have something to do this summer. If he didn't go, he'd be stuck at Aunt Linda's house. If he did go, he'd be helping people at a subject that he knew best. If he didn't go, he might be even more homesick.

'You know what?' Joe said, looking at Jared, 'I think I'll go.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Alrighty, Chapter 4 is up! Be excited!**

'Joseph?' Aunt Linda's voice carried through the nearly empty house.

Joe opened the door of his room, 'Yeah?'

'Dinner time.'

Joe leapt out his bed, raced down the hallway, and hopped down the stairs. He hadn't eaten lunch, and was nearly starved. 'Great. What's to eat?'

'Chicken and rice. Could you set the table?' she said, facing the stove.

Joe started to do as he was told, but as he was placing the paper napkins around the small kitchen table, he noticed a brochure for summer camp. 'You wanted to send me to camp?' he asked, looking up at his

'Of course not, Joseph. Not in your condition, anyways. But I was thinking of things for you to do, seeing as there isn't much to do here.' She said, serving the food.

'Oh.' Joe said, frowning. 'Well, my friend was telling me about this music camp, that I was thinking of going to.'

'You made a friend? Joe, that's wonderful. But this doesn't happen to be the camp preparing for the festival, does it?' Aunt Linda said, turning around to face her nephew.

'Yeah… but how do you know about that camp?' Joe asked, slightly confused.

'Oh, because I used to be the st-.' Linda stopped abruptly in the middle of her sentence. 'It's just something that the whole town does before the festival.' Joe looked at his aunt; she looked slightly nervous, although he wasn't quite sure why. He remembered his conversation with Jared, about his calling Linda a legend.

Shrugging her reaction off, he sat down and served himself some food. 'So can I go to the camp?'

'I don't like it, but I'm not going to stop you.' Aunt Linda said, carefully picking her words.

The next day, Joe woke up to the beeping sound of his alarm. Looking over to his bedside table, he realized that he only had an hour to get up, have a shower, and get to the camp.

Jumping out of bed, he realized that his bedroom door was open. Linda must have been in there earlier. Looking around his small room, he saw that there were no clothes on the floor, no guitar music anywhere, and it smelled like air freshener had been sprayed.

He grabbed a towel off the rack, and made his way towards the bathroom. He could smell the air freshener throughout the whole house, and he could tell that the vacuum machine had been pulled out of the closet.

'Joe? Is that you?' Linda called, from the bottom of the stairs.

'Yeah, Aunt Linda. I'm just about to take a shower.' Joe yelled back, inching towards the bathroom door.

'Okay, Joe. I have breakfast waiting for you!' she called back.

He walked into the bathroom, and turned on the water. He stepped into the shower, and let the water spill all over him. Sighing, he picked up the bottle of shampoo.

After his shower, he walked back to his room, towel around his waist. Rooting around his newly neat drawers, he selected a pair of white skinny jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt, and his favourite pair of checkered Vans slip-ons.

He walked downstairs, to find Linda sitting down, reading the paper. On the table, there was a box of cereal, a bowl, and a carton of milk.

'Good morning, Joseph.' She said, looking up at him, 'Are you ready for camp?'

'I think so. But I don't think I can sing. The doctor says that I won't be able to sing properly for a while.' Joe answered sadly.

'That's okay, Joseph. I called the director and told him about your throat, and the Jonas Brothers, and how you would be good to help people out.'

'Really?' Joe said, looking surprised. 'That might actually be okay.'

He sat down, took a bowl of cereal, and ate quickly. He had twenty minutes until he had to be at camp. 'I'll be home at like, three or so.'

'Okay. I packed a lunch for you.' She said, pointing at the counter.

He picked up the paper bag, picked up his guitar case, took out his iPod from his pocket, and opened the door. Walking down the street, he could see the church that the camp was. He could see people opening the door, and walking in.

He looked at his watch. 8:52. Eight minutes until it started. He opened the large, wooden door, and looked around. There were large signs all around the waiting room pointing downstairs, so he followed them to a large room, half-filled with people carrying various instruments. He set his guitar down in the corner, and looked around.

'Joseph?' a voice called, silencing the crowd.

'Um… that's me.' Joe said, raising his hand. He looked around the room to see who was talking to him. He could see a heavy-set guy waving him over.

'Can I call you Joe?' he asked, to which Joe nodded. 'Your aunt called and said that you would be happy to help. You were part of a band, she said?'

'Yeah, me and my brothers, the Jonas Brothers.' He said proudly.

'The Jonas Brothers? My daughter is obsessed with you!' he said, slightly surprised.

'Really?' Joe said, smirking. 'That's cool.'

'And I'm John, by the way. So you're cool with helping out?' the man said, and Joe nodded. 'You'll get to listen to the different acts, and help them out. Most of them are pretty good, but there are people who have a bit of stage fright.' He said, gesturing to a girl about Joe's age, sitting on a chair off to the side of the room, and looking extremely uncomfortable.

'Who's that?' Joe asked. He couldn't help but wonder if he'd seen her someplace before.

'That's Lilly Truscott. She's always been a good singer, but she just can't seem to get over her fear of performing.' he said, shaking his head.

Joe nodded.

'Come sit down, and I'll introduce.' John said, pointing to a wooden folding chair, and Joe sat down. 'People, people, sit down!'

The group complied, and soon, people in identical folding chairs surrounded him.

'This is Miley Stewart,' he said, and a petite brunette smiled and waved her hand. 'She sings, and got second place at last year's festival.

'This is Oliver Oken, and he plays a mean guitar.' John pointed to a shaggy haired teenager, who was wearing a band t-shirt, and had a guitar case next to his chair.

'This is Jake Ryan, the closest thing Clearwater Springs' has to a famous person.' A blond haired boy mock-glared at John, but still managed to look smug. 'But he's really good on the drums.'

On and on the introductions went, and Joe was trying to learn everyone's names. All of the musicians seemed really nice, and eager to play. Everybody was smiling, Joe noted, all except one girl. The girl that John had said to be named Lilly was frowning. She was sitting next to Miley, and they seemed to know each other, but Lilly didn't look happy.

'And last, but not least, this is Lilly.' John said, patting her head, and she turned red. Joe raised his hand in acknowledgement, and she looked at her hands, folded in her lap.

'And in case you didn't already know from my daughter, this is Joe Jonas. He was in the Jonas Brothers, but he has laryngitis, so he couldn't go on tour.' Everyone waved, and Joe smiled.

'So Joe and I are going to go around the room, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.'

The room broke up, and music started playing. Joe wandered around, and offered a nod of encouragement to a group of twelve-year-olds playing simple chords on the piano. He spotted Jared, and his group of friends, and he walked over.

'Hey.'

'Joe! We were just talking about you.' Jared said, looking up from his notebook.

'Great…?' Joe said, wondering if this was a good thing or not.

'I was talking to my sister earlier, and she was saying how she would love to meet you.' He said, standing up. 'Do you mind?'

'Not at all.' Joe said, following Jared.

They walked over to the other side of the room, where there were two girls and two guys sitting in a small circle. Joe recognized them as Miley, Lilly, Oliver and Jake. Lilly looked less awkward, and was actually smiling.

'Miles, I want you to meet someone.' Jared said, looking down at the brunette. 'This is Joe Jonas. Joe, this is Miley; my younger sister.'

'First of all, it's really nice to meet you.' Miley said, standing up, and sticking out her hand, which Joe shook. 'And second of all, I'm only younger by ten minutes. We're twins, in case he didn't bother to tell you. He likes pretending that he's in charge of me.' She said, looking at Joe.

'I get that with my brothers. I have one older and two younger brothers.' Joe said, to which Miley nodded.

'I know.' She smiled sheepishly. 'I read all of the teen magazines; I know all about you.'

'I'll make sure to quiz you later.' Joe said, grinning at her.

'You want to sit with us?' Miley asked, gesturing at the ground.

Joe looked around his shoulder. Jared had gone back to where he was sitting with his friends, so he shrugged, 'Why not?'

He sat down and looked at Lilly. 'So do play any instruments?'

'Not really.' She said, looking down at her hands, 'But I like to sing.'

'That's cool.' Joe said, 'Are you performing in the festival?'

'I don't think so.'

'Why not?'

'I'm just not very comfortable in front of audiences, I guess.' Lilly said, sighing.

Joe thought about this. If she was as good as John had said she was, she would have to be amazing.

'I could help you, if you want?'

**Enjoy, Read and Review!**


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